Cooper Spur Shuttle, 19-July-2014

[justpeachy]

Great report and beautiful photos! Looks like a great hike! It's so fun to get up high on the mountain where you can see for miles and miles.

[kepPNW]

Thanks everyone, for all the kind words!

I like how you tricked Cruzak to stare, looking for Cooper Spur shelter, even though it wasn't visible, so you could get a good picture.

Heh, it wasn't actually a premeditated trick, but it did turn out well, didn't it?

I made waypoint of that spring. That is a really useful spot to be able to get water. I wonder if it goes dry later?

PS: I now have a "Karl's Spring" waypoint - thank you.

It'll be really interesting to see if it runs all summer and into the fall! I have another day-loop idea in mind that I might take up there in mid-October or so. Neither of my previous trips had any photos of it.

Your shuttle idea is superb and a perfect way to see so much of the mountain in one day!

Great idea for a shuttle hike, Karl. It's not that far to drive from one end to the other and we got to see so much in one day.

What a great idea - thanks for the TR and pictures

Both times I'd been to Gnarl Ridge, once from each direction, I'd been frustrated that this was my turn around point. I really have gotten out of the habit of writing TRs lately, but I was sure a lot of other folks might find this notion worthy enough to give it a go themselves. It's too easy! I think it was only 8.5 miles back on US35, then 2.5 miles up Cooper Spur Rd to the ski area, and the gate is just beyond that. Just can't say enough how much more fulfilling it is to see this area as a semi-loop rather than an in/out.

I know the thought of climbing up from 3800' can sound really daunting. (For me, it's the thought of dropping back down that far I really don't like!) But it's a very gentle ascent along a lovely ridgeline, and Tilly Jane hits you before you even start looking for it. I don't even think the shuttle concept would be viable driving to Cloud Cap, as that would add at least 3 hours (4x45m) of driving to the day!

I've been having far too much fun with the track and Google Earth, and put together a series of perspectives...


The Climb. Tilly Jane is at the green hook just below timberline.



High Traverse. GE imagery was 7/18/2010, so snowfields were almost identical.



Final Descent. Not enough scenery yet? Detour over to Elk Meadows on the way down!

Really awesome day. Only my second hike on Mt Hood ever, and the first one this year. It's a whopper of a climb from that trailhead. Weather was perfect, except for the wind. LOL yes those snowfields were a little outside my comfort zone. It seemed worse due to the wind that kept wanting to knock me over. Toward the end I think I figured out in the back of my mind that it was unlikely that I would slide down to my death.
...
Oh, and we topped it off with dinner at Full Sail Brewery in Hood River. Long day! But so worth it.

Yep, totally earned that steak sandwich!

The snowfields weren't too bad, really. Softish, so stepping hard worked. Never felt like spikes would've helped (which I actually would've preferred). But yeah, that wind at our backs did add a bit of discomfort at a few of the steeper crossings! I mean, it's one thing to bootski a 30-40% slope normally, but with the 60mph tailwind assist...?

Nice pics of the eliot and those fires down south too. Hopefully todays rain helped a little?

Fingers crossed! I was concerned about threats of dry lightning, but it's seeming like a real soaker today!

as neat and tidy as that setup appears, I think I might dismantle that fire pit next time I'm up there (I dismantled one on the ridge, proper, last year - including half-burned chunks of old whitebark pine). Fires in that environment are not only unsustainable in terms of the available wood vs. number of hikers, but could also be a catastrophe if a human-caused fire somehow spread and took out some of the ancients growing up there. That's a real possibility, given there is no nearby water supply by the campsite in your photo, and thus no responsible way to extinguish a fire when leaving.

There actually were smallish snowfields within 50' of the campsite, but it isn't going to last much longer. This certainly seems like a place fires ought to be banned, if for no other reason than the crime against history that burning those ancients would represent! I think I might've seen where your last work was, as we came across a pile of charcoal at one point, and grumble-growled about the imbeciles burning that beautiful wood.


Snow beside ruins of old CCC shelter, about 50' from campsite.

It's so fun to get up high on the mountain where you can see for miles and miles.

You said it, Cheryl! Ask Jim how many times I exclaimed "How Alive!" I felt up there. Hard to beat that feeling that only being up above timberline can give. Soaring...

[sprengers4jc]

Great trip report! Loved all the pictures and descriptions. You even make the captions sound fun! A friend and I love doing shuttle hikes because we hate covering the same ground twice. This will go on the list for the somewhat distant future . My wife and I were considering tackling Elk Meadows this Saturday. We have never hiked on Mt Hood and I thought that would be within her energy range. I only saw a couple of flower photos of the meadow. Is it worth going now, or should we wait a couple of weeks?

[kepPNW]

Great trip report! Loved all the pictures and descriptions. You even make the captions sound fun! A friend and I love doing shuttle hikes because we hate covering the same ground twice. This will go on the list for the somewhat distant future.

Lots of flexibility here. Could be anywhere from maybe 13-18+ miles, 4500-6500' EG. Depends how high you go on Cooper Spur or other routing choices.

My wife and I were considering tackling Elk Meadows this Saturday. We have never hiked on Mt Hood and I thought that would be within her energy range. I only saw a couple of flower photos of the meadow. Is it worth going now, or should we wait a couple of weeks?

We didn't actually divert over to Elk Meadows, I'm afraid. By the time we were passing through there, it was about 6:30-ish, and the flowers that were out just weren't "popping" anymore in the shade. So we just took the bypass route, in order to get to Full Sail an extra half-hour sooner.

• 

  Elk Meadows

I've only been there once - August 4, last year - and I honestly wasn't all that overwhelmed at that point. Not sure if I was past the peak, but perhaps?

[sprengers4jc]

Ah, gotcha. Yeah, 4,500 feet is about my limit so we would probably do that when we hike it.

I somehow derped it when looking at your gps track and thought you went through Elk Meadows. That will teach me to review gps tracks after bedtime! And thanks for the underwhelmed vote on a previous trip there about this same time of year. We may try something else instead.

PS: At that point in the hike, I probably would have skipped it to hit Full Sail earlier as well . We love that place. Also, next time you are down near Mt. Hood, try Mt Hood Brewing Company as well. They have some great food and the best homemade root beer.

[Roy]

Nice report I wish I could have joined you guys and hiked again with big Jim and met you. Ive had that shuttle on my mind since last year but it was at the far limits of what I was capable of. This year things are better.

I think anyone that hikes up there a few times will testify its one of the windiest places on Hood. I have been blasted up there before and its seems to roar right up the canyons like a freight train.

[kepPNW]

And thanks for the underwhelmed vote on a previous trip there about this same time of year. We may try something else instead.

I guess I was just led to expect something more like Paradise, and it just wasn't that. There were some cool flowers, and a fairly nice view. But both seem to get much better up higher.

PS: At that point in the hike, I probably would have skipped it to hit Full Sail earlier as well . We love that place. Also, next time you are down near Mt. Hood, try Mt Hood Brewing Company as well. They have some great food and the best homemade root beer.

Noted. We seem to pass through there a lot, thanks!

Nice report I wish I could have joined you guys and hiked again with big Jim and met you. Ive had that shuttle on my mind since last year but it was at the far limits of what I was capable of. This year things are better.

Yeah, that was just the oddest coincidence. I wish that would've worked out, too. We gotta make something happen sometime in the near future. I'm starting to get scared that I'll need to get all bionic before I'll be able to keep up with you, though!

I think anyone that hikes up there a few times will testify its one of the windiest places on Hood. I have been blasted up there before and its seems to roar right up the canyons like a freight train.

Right. I mean, the sustained winds on the plains were pretty strong. But on some of those ridgelines...!

I was not kidding when I said I got blown over once, and only bouncing off Crusak kept me from going down.

[woodswalker]

I did a hike up to the small meadow just above the junction of the newton creek trail with the PCT, Lupines and penstemon blooming like crazy there. On the way in I met a couple who had been up to Elk Meadows that morning and said the flowers had another week or two to go before they were at peak. Sorry no pictures. I left the Iphone at home
Woodswalker